The rate was therefore well above the legal recycling target of 63%, which has been in effect since 2022. Since the introduction of the Packaging Act in 2019, the recycling rate has increased by an impressive 25 percentage points, although it had stagnated at a modest level of around 42% until 2018. In 2022, the recycling of plastic packaging took place almost exclusively in Germany (84.4%) and the EU (15.5%). Only 0.1% was exported to non-EU countries, primarily to Turkey, Switzerland and Serbia.
The recycling-harmful trend towards less plastic and more paper-plastic composites continues
“The ever-increasing recycling of plastic packaging is a great success,” says IK managing director Dr. Isabell Schmidt. “It is now important to further strengthen this positive development and defend it against undesirable developments. Misunderstood plastic reduction in the direction of composites does not achieve the goal; Recyclability and material savings must definitely be a priority in packaging design. We cannot tolerate bogus arguments and greenwashing.”
Problem case with paper-plastic composites
The ZSVR and the UBA have repeatedly criticized the significant increase in paper-based composite packaging on the market. Composite packaging is often not easy to recycle, as a UBA study shows. Almost every second piece of packaging whose recyclability is below 90 percent is composite packaging. Nevertheless, composite packaging is increasingly replacing plastic packaging. Unilaterally discriminatory special targets for plastics, as recently required in the European Packaging Regulation, as well as exceptions to the recycled content quotas could further strengthen the unwanted market trend towards composite packaging.
